Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 398: Yulongzhi (Additional chapter for JJM leader)

"Ready to be at your service?"

The Queen of Wu had never heard of this official position, but it was such a casual and straightforward title, there was no reason why she would not understand it.

Empress Wu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Has Yang Qing... never taken up his official position?"

Yang Yuan's heart moved. This was a rare opportunity and must not be missed.

Goose King Zhao Que expelled Xue Bingxin and Leng Yuchan from the palace on the grounds that he liked them.

In this matter, if Yang Yuan had just been quietly serving as a seventh-rank official and a spy chief who could not show his face in the court, there would have been no problem at all.

However, since he has already entered the sight of the top management and he also intends to move up a level, he must let the people above know about this matter to completely resolve this hidden danger.

Otherwise, once he has really climbed to the top and this matter is exposed, it will be a fatal blow to him by his political opponents.

Yang Yuanma bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, I am an official in the Privy Council's Mechanical and Electrical Office."

Empress Wu asked, "Then... why did it become 'ready to be at your service'?"

Yang Yuan said: "This is a long story. In short, I did make a mistake, so I am punished. I accept it wholeheartedly."

Queen Wu has nothing else to do now. The emperor is in a coma. It is still unclear whether the Japanese were involved in the Xiangji Temple conspiracy and who instructed them to do so.

What's more, women's curiosity is particularly strong.

Even though Queen Wu was already in her forties, her curiosity was no less than that of a young girl.

Empress Wu said, "There is nothing to do now, so you can tell me now."

Yang Yuan was waiting for her to say this, and immediately agreed, saying that he joined the Privy Council and fell in love with Xue Bingxin at first sight.

When he heard that Xue Bingxin had an identity in the palace, he hid his love for her and kept his distance.

Later one day after drinking, he revealed the truth to his good friend Enping County Prince Zhao Qu. Zhao Qu was touched by his sincerity, so he took the initiative to help him solve Xue Bingxin's identity problem.

When Empress Wu heard this, she was slightly surprised and asked, "Yang Qing, are you and the Prince of Enping close friends?"

Yang Yuan bowed his head and said, "Yes! When I was still a commoner, I happened to watch the tide on Phoenix Mountain and met the Prince of Enping.

Prince Enping was open-minded and straightforward. He did not care about my background. We hit it off right away and became good friends. "

Empress Wu's eyes flickered, and she nodded, "Go on."

"Yes!"

Yang Yuan then told how Zhang Mi, the dean of the Xuanzhi Office, had flirted with Xue Bingxin, and how he had beaten Zhang Mi in anger for the sake of his beloved.

As a result, he was punished by the Privy Councilor Qin Hui, dismissed from his post, and forced to prepare a show of "being ready to be at your service", which he told Queen Wu about.

Although Queen Wu heard these things, her mind was no longer here.

The official's condition is getting better and worse, and it's unknown whether he can survive it.

Even if he managed to get through this disaster, the emperor was already nearly fifty years old, and the issue of the crown prince should have been decided.

Queen Wu knew that the reason why the emperor had been reluctant to appoint a crown prince was because he still dreamed of having his own child.

However, as the queen, how could Wu not know the emperor's health condition?

Besides, the officials' habits have become increasingly weird in recent years.

Liu Wanrong, who now serves by the imperial bed, is known to everyone inside and outside the emperor as the emperor's most beloved concubine.

But Empress Wu certainly knew that the emperor was just using Liu Wanrong as a cover.

In the past two years, the age of the women favored by the emperor has been getting younger and younger, and many of them are young girls who are about to become Tiankui. With such appearance, how can they give birth to children?
Queen Wu has never wanted to interfere too much in the selection of the crown prince.

She wanted to be a virtuous queen, and always tried to be fair and give Prince Pu'an and Prince Enping a fair chance.

Even though Empress Dowager Wei clearly expressed her preference for Prince Enping Zhao Yu in front of her, Empress Wu never showed her preference for Yu'er.

But after all, she is also a flesh-and-blood person.

She raised Prince Enping Zhao Yu and treated him as her own son.

Although Prince Pu'an Zhao Yuan was extremely filial, there was a gap between him and the children he raised himself in terms of the sense of closeness.

Now that the emperor had been assassinated and nearly died in Xiangji Temple, the topic of establishing a crown prince, which had seemed somewhat distant, suddenly came close to her.

Only then did she realize that she actually still hoped that the child she had raised could become the crown prince.

And this Yang Yuan is a close friend of Qu'er...

Queen Wu had an idea in her mind.

What with the anger for the beauty and slapping the imperial edict court? The only person who was moved was Liu Wanrong, who was sitting quietly beside the imperial bed and listening attentively.

Queen Wu, who was sitting behind the pearl curtain, was too lazy to care about these romantic matters.

She was considering the selection of the imperial crown prince and the series of changes that would result from it.

Queen Wu nodded and said, "I see. The punishment given to you by the Prime Minister was a bit too severe."

Liu Shangqiu quickly chimed in, "Yes, madam. You may not know that Yang Yuan is not only a skilled martial artist, but he is also the top scorer in this year's Lin'an exam. He will also take the imperial examination this spring."

"Oh?"

Queen Wu glanced at the slender figure outside the pearl curtain in surprise, and said happily: "Yang Qing is a man of both civil and military talents."

Yang Yuan hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am too humbled to accept your praise."

Empress Wu said: "You are the first place winner, so I think the Jinshi title is also in your pocket.

When you pass the imperial examination, the court will certainly make use of you, and then you will have to leave the Privy Council. Hmm..."

Empress Wu hesitated for a moment and said, "Now is a time of trouble, and it is also a time to employ people.

You are in the Privy Council, and now you are just a "waiting for orders", and you can't stay for long. Why not go to the Palace Front Department to be a general guard?

When you pass the imperial examination and the court has other arrangements, it won’t be too late to resign.”

After hearing this, Liu Shangqiu looked at Yang Yuan with a smile.

Yang Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this. If he could become a Yulongzhi, then he would be more confident in "commanding Zhao Gou's army."

It was only after Yang Yuan joined the Privy Council that he gradually figured out the complicated imperial guard system in the capital and the imperial palace.

The imperial guards of the Song Dynasty palace were generally commanded by the Palace Front Department and the Imperial City Department, including the palace guards, the Kuanyi Tianwu officers, and the imperial city's personal attendants, etc.

The imperial palace guards divided the palace into five areas.

The first layer is the outermost layer, guarded by the imperial city officials.

The second level is guarded by the Tianwu officers in Kuanyi on the left and right sides of the Si Tianwu in front of the palace.

The third level is guarded by the palace guards who control the dragon bows and arrows and crossbows;
The fourth level is guarded by the imperial guards of the palace;
The fifth level is guarded by the Dragon Guards of the Palace Front Department.

Yulongzhi is the last line of defense in the imperial palace.

The pass guarded by Yulongzhi was only separated by a gate in the palace wall, and behind it was the Forbidden City.

In theory, there were only the emperor, concubines, palace maids and eunuchs in the Forbidden City, and there was no armed force.

Of course, there is actually a mysterious "Baolong Temple".

But that was no longer part of the imperial guard force officially established by the court.

Instead, the emperor selected some people from a group of eunuchs to serve as his personal bodyguards.

Yang Yuan quickly clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness Yang Yuan, I obey your orders!"

Empress Wu wrote down an edict, stamped it with the Empress's seal, and handed it to a eunuch: "Here, please have the Empress Dowager seal it!"

Then, Queen Wu ordered, "Roll up the pearl curtain."

Two palace maids hurried forward and parted the pearl curtain.

Yang Yuan and Liu Shangqiu quickly lowered their heads and stared at the ground three feet in front of them.

Queen Wu smiled faintly and said, "Raise your head."

Yang Yuan and Liu Shangqiu raised their heads slightly, but their eyes were still slightly lowered, not daring to look directly at the queen.

Queen Wu had met Liu Shangqiu before, and at this moment she mainly wanted to see what Yang Yuan looked like.

She placed Yang Yuan in this position to create a small advantage for her adopted son Zhao Yu.

The Imperial Dragon Guard is the most critical armed force in the palace.

The Du Yuhou of the Yulongzhi squads is equivalent to the Yulongzhi's chief of staff. He is second only to the Du Zhihuishi of the Yulongzhi squads and has great power.

In terms of rank, it was only one level higher than Yang Yuan's current seventh rank, but in terms of power and closeness to the center of power, they were incomparable.

Queen Wu looked at Yang Yuan and nodded with satisfaction.

Yang Yuan's appearance combines the advantages of "ancient north and glazed south", which makes people easily like him at first sight.

It’s no wonder that Xue Bingxin fell in love with such a handsome young man.

Queen Wu remembered that her son had taken two people away from her, and the other one seemed to be named Leng.

Although Yang Yuan did not mention her just now, if his son did not take the woman surnamed Leng into the Prince's Mansion, then she must be someone that Yang Yuan has taken a fancy to.

Queen Wu had no intention of delving into the matter. Matters such as deep affection, loyalty or amorous feelings were not issues that the Queen cared about.

The important thing is that since Yu'er could do these things for Yang Yuan, it was obvious that the two of them had a deep friendship. For Queen Wu, this was enough.

Empress Wu looked at Yang Yuan deeply, nodded and said, "Yang Yuan, you do a good job."

Afterwards, Queen Wu waved her hand, and the palace maids on both sides lowered the pearl curtain.

A moment later, the young eunuch brought back the imperial edict with the Empress Dowager's seal.

Empress Wu said, "You should go and register for work, and report to Yulongzhi tomorrow."

"The minister obeys the order, and the minister resigns."

Yang Yuan agreed and left the Funing Palace with Liu Shangqiu.

The young eunuch took Yang Yuan to the place where the former dynasty's Imperial Dragon Guard was stationed to complete the entry procedures, and then led the two out of the palace.

Otherwise, Yang Yuan would not even be able to enter the palace tomorrow, unlike today, when he was led by the Imperial Envoy and had the pretext to enter the palace to report the emperor's orders.

As Yang Yuan walked along, he naturally could not look left or right, but as he walked, he quietly memorized the locations of the roads, flowers, trees, and pavilions in his mind.

Now that the emperor is unable to manage affairs and there is no crown prince to govern, the two palaces are in charge.

Both the Empress Dowager and the Queen had stamped their seals, so there was naturally no obstacle to appointing an officer of the Imperial Guards to be the Dragon Guard.

Yang Yuan successfully completed the formalities and received his official uniform. Liu Shangqiu, who was still waiting outside, jumped in front of him and said happily:

"Hurry, hurry, change into it, Erlang. From now on, you will be an official of the sixth rank."

Yang Yuan said: "I would also like to thank Brother Qingyang for giving me advice."

Liu Shangqiu waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about that. Put it on quickly and let me see."

Yang Yuan couldn't persuade him, so he had to change into the scarlet official robe under the porch of Yulongzhi.

Liu Shangqiu looked him up and down and said with satisfaction, "That's right, don't you think this scarlet robe looks much better than the green one?"
Liu Guojiu's focus is always so novel and unique.

(End of this chapter)